A wide variety of vehicles are commercially available that are designed for a specific function or purpose. For example, a tractor used in a tractor-trailer combination is configured for connection to a trailer for transport of materials over roadways, often over long distances. However, when such tractors are not being used for towing trailers, they often sit idle as they are not designed to be put to other uses.
Terminal tractors (also referred to as spotting tractors, shunt trucks, terminal trucks, yard trucks, yard goats, yard dogs, yard jockeys, or mules) are shortened versions of a conventional fifth-wheel truck and have a hydraulic lift coupled to the fifth wheel that is controllable by the operator from the truck cab. The operator can couple the fifth wheel to a trailer and engage the hydraulic lift to raise a front stand of the trailer off the underlying surface to allow movement of the trailer. The ability to raise the front stand of the trailer off the underlying surface from the truck cab allows easier and faster movement of the trailers because the operator does not have to separately raise the front stand of the trailer after it is coupled to the fifth wheel. Terminal tractors often are configured for relatively slow speeds to facilitate the movement of cargo in relatively limited space. Terminal trucks are often not capable of travelling on public roads because of their limited vehicle speed.
There is an ongoing need for more efficient and versatile use of tractors of the type used in a tractor-trailer combination and the like. For example, there is a need for a convenient way for such a tractor to be employed for other uses when it is not being employed to pull a trailer, such as, for example, utilization of the tractor for snow removal, deicing, road repair or for use in combination with a wide variety of other implements that are commercially available. The present disclosure addresses this need.